MUMBAI: Over 200 players from 25 countries including India will go under the hammer on 3 November as the auction for the world's richest Olympic style wrestling tournament Pro Wrestling League (PWL) is all set to take place in New Delhi.
Six franchisees will be bidding for players at the auction and each team will have a marquee player. The bid for the Olympic and World Championship winners will start at the base price of $50,000.
"Each team has a player auction purse of Rs 2 crore. We are sure that all players picked will be delighted with the financial reward to play in the league," said Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
As many as 60 players will find buyers since each of the six teams will have a 10 players, including four women – a maximum of four overseas players and six Indians.
Singh added, "The PWL Players' auction will be a big landmark in the history of sport. It will give the six franchises the opportunity to bid for the best players and complete their squads. The player pool is so rich in talent that after the auction we will have six squads to offer highly competitive action for wrestling lovers."
About 100 top international wrestlers from 25 countries, including Olympic and World Championship stars, and over a 100 Indian wrestlers will come under the hammer. The wrestlers include more than 20 medal winners from the World Wrestling Championship held in Las Vegas last month. These include current European Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games champions and other international medal winners.
Indian film industry's Deol family and GMR Group, who also won the Delhi Daredevils IPL team, are among the six PWL franchisees.
CDR Punjab team owner and veteran actor Dharmendra said, “I’m extremely happy that wrestling is being presented in a world class manner at a global platform, with Pro Wrestling League. I’m sure that Indian wrestling lovers will get abundant opportunities at a grass-root level.”
Three-time women’s world champion Adeline Gray from the US has called the League a historic move in international wrestling. She said, “By bringing Pro event with huge sums of money, Indian organisers have taken a bold step in popularizing wrestling at the world level."
The mood is upbeat in India too. Double Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar is confident that the League will give a big boost to Indian wrestling.
"It will be a great boost when the cream of world wrestling comes to India. This will be a great opportunity for our players to travel with them and learn a lot. Besides the League will keep the focus on the sport and motivate the upcoming wrestlers," said Kumar.
The PWL is a joint venture of Wrestling Federation of India and its commercial partner – Pro Sportify Pvt Limited, which is also the promoter and organiser of the league.
